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From: Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz>
subject: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 01:12:07 +1300
Warning - blatant commercial plug

Duane said :
> I know this is an international list, but if you ever wanted to come to
California,
> February would be a great time because of the Golden Gate Sea Kayak
Symposium.

Can't resist this Duane - just to keep that 'international' aspect honest
;-)

I'm going to throw some competition at the Golden Gate for Feb 2010...

All you Northern Hemisphere folk should consider escaping down-under and
enjoying our mid-summer Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium in Auckland, New
Zealand. Held every 2 years, this has 180 keen paddlers come from all over
the country (and a bunch of other countries too).

No commercial activity, just some of the world's best at what we all love to
do - talking about how and why and where. Fri/Sat dry, Sunday wet. Follow it
up with a fantastic week at the IKW - with a much smaller crowd (50) - if
you can swing it.  

Check out www.coastbusters.org.nz and start day-dreaming.

Note that we do our darndest to look after people who make the effort to
come and give us some international spice... We mean that.

Best Regards
Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand
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From: Mark Sanders <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 06:53:42 -0800
Doesn't sound like much fun if you can't drink the first two days!
Buy really, what are you doing the first two days that you don't get on the 
water? The GGSKS is a chance for us folk who paddle in relatively calm water 
to push the envelope in the bumpy waters of San Frisco.
Will you promise we'll be taking our life in our hands on your Sunday 
paddle???
NZ is high on MY wish list!

Mark Sanders

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Hayward" <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz>

> Fri/Sat dry, Sunday wet...
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 09:07:27 -0700
On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 5:12 AM, Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz> wrote:

>
> Note that we do our darndest to look after people who make the effort to
> come and give us some international spice... We mean that.
>
> If I won the lottery or managed a financial ponzi scheme my fantasy would
be to have a home in, say, Nanaimo and another home somewhere in NZ. And a
C-130 to fly back and forth between them. An endless summer except that
twice a year I'd fly to wherever I could find good cross country skiing  for
a grand total of two or three weeks of winter.

Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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From: Darryl Johnson <Darryl.Johnson_at_sympatico.ca>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:38:00 -0500
Craig Jungers wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 5:12 AM, Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz> wrote:
> 
>> Note that we do our darndest to look after people who make the effort to
>> come and give us some international spice... We mean that.
>>
>> If I won the lottery or managed a financial ponzi scheme my fantasy would
> be to have a home in, say, Nanaimo and another home somewhere in NZ. And a
> C-130 to fly back and forth between them. An endless summer except that
> twice a year I'd fly to wherever I could find good cross country skiing  for
> a grand total of two or three weeks of winter.
> 
> Craig Jungers
> Moses Lake, WA
> www.nwkayaking.net

A good idea, Craig. Although I have two small corrections.

The first would be *successful* ponzi scheme. Successful from your 
POV, of course.

The second would be to skip the "twice a year" winter part. I spent my 
childhood in the Canadian arctic. There are two reactions to that sort 
of thing: you either love winter, cold weather and all that stuff, or 
you hate it. I'm definitely in the latter camp. I'll take the "endless 
summer" without a break, thanks very much. (Okay, maybe a week of 
crisp Fall weather with the leaves at their peak colour. But that's it.)

I had a friend posted to NZ for a couple of years with the Canadian 
army. He loved it, as did another friend who spent a month visiting 
him down there. I could go for a summer home down there. Not sure 
about Nanaimo though. Interesting waters to paddle, but cold water 
too. I like to be able to strip down and jump in after a day on the 
water. (I know it scares the bejesus out of animals and small children 
when they see me, but that's their problem.)

-- 
   Darryl
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From: Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 15:28:37 +1300
Craig said on 4 November 2009

> If I won the lottery... somewhere in NZ... An endless summer

Wasn't my intention to make anyone unhappy about their lot - just thought
that if such an adventure was 'on the radar' for anyone, it might allow the
idea to crystallise (how's that for a mixed metaphor ;-) around a specific
week. A week of good paddling with a very diverse crowd of locals - who are
frequently keen to steer visitors into their own favourite coastal gems - or
just drag them along to be wowed...

Mark said

> Doesn't sound like much fun if you can't drink the first two days!

Damn! It just never crossed my mind that such a hardened group of old salts
could ever entertain such a misapprehension for a minute... After all, we
are a country with some pride in our wine and beer ;-) There was also some
history of making Whiskey (in the deep south), but I understand it was more
for emergency use. Or perhaps any use turned into an emergency - I don't
know.

Coastbusters has evolved into the format of a (keep-your-clothes) dry Friday
evening and mostly dry Saturday, followed by a Sunday on the water -
principally for logistical reasons. It just minimises the kayak-handling &
clothes-changing in what is a busy couple of days.

To achieve 4 or 5 seating areas with data-projectors - to allow parallel
streams of content - we make use of a school on the edge of a small lake.
Its adjacent 'Waterwise' training centre for young kids gives us ample scope
for such things as rolling demos and various sorts of craziness that involve
a sub-set of the whole group. People cope with the day of 'dry' sessions by
knowing that the next day - about 20km away on a stunning bit of coast -
will let them 'do it for real'. Seems to work.

The classroom and gymnasium sessions range from stories of adventures that
most of us can only dream about - like Paul Caffyn's or Justine's - to more
approachable 'holidays' on the Danube, in Baja, or New Zealand's Fjordland -
that anyone can aspire to. 

In other streams, there are the usual range of technology or practical
subjects from gel-coat repair & hole-patching to simple & advanced nav
sessions, sailing rigs, SoFs, food, etc. If there's a session on GPS, the
presenter will be a kayaker first and a GPS user second. Perhaps an airline
pilot or a navy skipper or a Geocachng enthusiast - but someone who looks at
the whole thing from a wet eight inches above the water. We've all endured
too many talks from vendors trying to pretend a grasp of the kayakers
viewpoint.

Sprinkled into the travelogs and the geek-fests are some sessions putting
our local governmental agency people (eg: Conservation, CG & safety) in
front of a kayaking audience. These appeal to a number of paddlers - to get
a briefing on 'where the agency is going' and to let them provide feedback
on kayakers' needs & preferences. These work well.

Add in a few by Orca researchers, sea-bird Profs, Physios or Yoga
instructors (who happen to kayak) and you get an eclectic collection of
topics that have people complaining that they couldn't get to all the ones
they wanted to. Better that than bored ;-)

Not very different from a very good club-night presentation - just a
selection of about 25 of them in one day - with the presenters chosen for
having something worthwhile to talk about - or being bloody good at it - or
both.

Best Regards
Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 20:11:00 -0700
On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 7:28 PM, Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz> wrote:

> There was also some
> history of making Whiskey (in the deep south), but I understand it was more
> for emergency use. Or perhaps any use turned into an emergency - I don't
> know.
>

W.C. Fields (a Vaudeville and Cinema star in the 1930s and 1940s was famous
for saying that he carried a flask of whiskey in his right pocket in case of
snakebite. And in his left pocket he carried..... a snake.

Not very different from a very good club-night presentation - just a
> selection of about 25 of them in one day - with the presenters chosen for
> having something worthwhile to talk about - or being bloody good at it - or
> both.
>
> Sounds like a seriously great symposium. I may have to price airline
tickets. Always wanted to visit NZ ever since Eric and Susan Hiscock moved
there. (They sailed around the world 4 times and from NZ to BC, Canada and
back in their 80s.)

Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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From: Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:57:37 +1300
Craig said on 2009-11-04

> W.C... carried a flask of whiskey in his right pocket in case of
snakebite. 

I always felt that WC, Sam Clemens and Groucho would be a good trio to hang
with - if you have my level of cynicism... Boy, do I wish !

> wanted to visit NZ ever since Eric and Susan Hiscock moved there 

I remember seeing Wanderer (4 or 5) down here at Westhaven Marina in the
1980's. I believe Susan stayed on for a while in NZ, after Eric sadly 'faded
away'. NZ was a pretty good final harbour, there's some good sailing and
sailormen.

I'd forgotten that the Hiscocks were Ransome fans - with "Grab a chance and
you won't be sorry for a might-have-been." painted over their cabin door.

God, I hope some kids, somewhere, still read Swallows & Amazons. 
Must have led to a lot of wet feet & happy hearts over the years.   

Best Regards
Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand
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From: Duane Strosaker <strosaker_at_yahoo.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 16:52:04 -0800 (PST)
Paul,

Looks like a great event. I'd sure like to see that presentation by Paul Caffyn. I also see they invited a couple Tsunami Rangers from California.

Duane


--- On Tue, 11/3/09, Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz> wrote:
> Check out www.coastbusters.org.nz and start day-dreaming.
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From: Paul Hayward <pdh_at_mmcl.co.nz>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Coastbusters Sea Kayak Symposium
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 16:08:20 +1300
Duane said on 4 November 2009:
> Looks like a great event. I'd sure like to see that presentation by 
> Paul Caffyn. I also see they invited a couple Tsunami Rangers

Paul is amazing.

In 2008 we all really enjoyed having Jim Kakuk (California) & Deb Volturno
(Washington) down and they seemed to be having fun. We sure did.

Deb is back at the front of the classroom and cursing her school calendar,
but Eric Soares has just escaped from his teaching job and has decided to
join Jim in a return visit. 

These are the sort of guys it's fun to have around in any group of kayakers
- just as long as you can avoid getting led into temptation ;-)

Best Regards
Paul Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand
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